Synthetic aperture processing for diffusion-equation-based target detection

A method of target detection processing, comprising the steps of:

• transmitting electromagnetic pulses from a plurality of locations into a media in which said electromagnetic pulses propagate diffusively, wherein diffusively propagating reflections of said electromagnetic pulses are generated by a target;
• receiving said diffusively propagating reflections at each of said plurality of locations;
• measuring an electric field at each of said plurality of locations;
• determining vector components of said electric field measured at each of said plurality of locations;
• determining a direction to the target from each of said plurality of locations using said vector components;
• transforming said diffusively propagating reflections into corresponding wave propagating reflections;
• and
• processing said wave propagating reflections in accordance with a synthetic aperture processing technique.

A target detection system, comprising:

• a transmitter for transmitting energetic pulses from a plurality of locations into a media in which said energetic pulses propagate diffusively, wherein diffusively propagating reflections of said energetic pulses are generated by a target;
• a receiver for receiving said diffusively propagating reflections;
• a transformation processor coupled to said receiver for transforming said diffusively propagating reflections into corresponding wave propagating reflections;
• a synthetic aperture processor coupled to said transformation processor for processing said wave propagating reflections in accordance with a synthetic aperture processing technique;
• and
• an output device coupled to said synthetic aperture processor for displaying results generated by said synthetic processing technique.